Chapter 229 The Biggest Gossip To Come
After the grand banquet at Shengyuan, Sheng An and Xu Jinnian went to attend the wedding banquets of the Fang and Ye families.
Meanwhile, Fang Qingzhou and Ye Yunhua decided to go to Beijing with Xu Jinnian to participate in the imperial examinations in February of the following year.
It's freezing cold and the journey is long, so Liu Xiaoyun and Liu Yanran won't be traveling together this time.
After returning from the Ye family, Sheng An began packing her luggage.
This time, they would be staying in the capital for at least four months, and most of their luggage consisted of heavy winter clothes, filling four large suitcases, even after Sheng An had tried his best to reduce the amount of luggage they brought.
There was no other way; the capital was just too cold. The winter clothes from Qingzhou were simply no match for the chill of the capital, so Sheng'an specially had several extra-thick outfits made in advance.
To this end, she searched for the only fur shop in the city and spent a lot of money to buy several pelts and have three fur coats made.
One of them was hers, and the other two were Xu Jinnian's.
Like the provincial examination, the spring examination required candidates to stay in a cramped examination room for nine days, so Xu Jinnian needed a warm fur coat.
The clothes alone filled four boxes, and Xu Jinnian's books, manuscripts, and other odds and ends filled another six boxes.
The sight of ten boxes made Sheng An dizzy. She discussed with Xu Jinnian, "Let's charter a boat and travel by water. It's really inconvenient to carry so much stuff by land."
Xu Jinnian squeezed her hand: "Traveling by water will be very tiring for you."
Sheng An firmly stated, "If I can endure it, I'll take the waterway."
Seasickness is very unpleasant. Perhaps after this long trip, her seasickness problem will be cured?
Xu Jinnian couldn't bear to see Sheng An suffer, so after thinking for a moment he said, "Let's take the waterway first, and if that doesn't work, we'll switch to the land route."
Sheng An nodded hurriedly: "Okay."
Fang Qingzhou and Ye Yunhua had always preferred to travel by water, so when Xu Jinnian mentioned it, they immediately agreed and chartered a luxury ship that very day.
Since the couple started packing their bags, the three elders in the family have visibly become depressed.
Grandma Sheng said worriedly, "The journey is too far. Take all the guards from the house with you. If anything happens on the way, they can protect you."
Sheng An comforted him, saying, "The Fang, Ye, and Tan families all bring their own guards. Six of us will be enough."
The number of guards at Shengyuan remained unchanged, still the same as the original eight.
The greatest achievement of the eight guards in the past two years has been catching several groups of thieves attempting to break into the house.
This trip to the capital is a long and arduous one, and anything could happen along the way, so it's essential to bring extra guards.
Grandma Sheng was still worried and repeatedly reminded her, "Bring plenty of money with you, and don't keep it all in one place."
Sheng An nodded repeatedly, indicating that he had taken it to heart.
After calming down the three elders, the couple went to the Zhang family's house again.
This time, Xu Cuilian shared some shocking news that had just broken in Xujiaba with Sheng An:
"Xu Huaining is back. He's only been home for two days when Ma Dahua scratched his face. Ma Dahua scolded him for being ungrateful and not helping the down-on-his-luck Xu Laosan, and said that Xu Huaining must take care of her in her old age and see her off when she dies..."
In front of the whole village, Ma Dahua blocked Xu Laosi's door and cursed Xu Huaining. Her curses were extremely offensive, and she directly labeled him as a cursed lone star, saying that anyone who got involved with him would be unlucky.
But no one in the village believed it.
Outraged, Ma Dahua immediately dropped a bombshell.
It turns out that the old Taoist priest who predicted Xu Jinnian would be a cursed lone star was not a real Taoist priest. He was hired by Xu Laosi and his wife to slander Xu Jinnian.
The reason is simple: Xu Huaining is the only son of Xu Laosi and his wife. They cherish this son as the apple of their eye and wish they could give him all the best things in the world.
The Xu family was too poor, so poor that they couldn't even afford to eat, making it impossible for Xu Huaining to live a good life.
So Xu Lao Si and his wife set their sights on Xu Lao San and his wife.
As long as Mr. and Mrs. Xu have no son to care for them in their old age, and they can devote all their energy to their son, with four strong laborers supporting one child, it's impossible for them not to raise him well.
So, Xu Laosi and his wife found someone to impersonate a Taoist priest and say that the newborn Xu Jinnian was a cursed star who would bring death to the entire Xu family. That's how the rest of the story came about.
At first, Ma Dahua didn't know about this. It wasn't until Xu Huaining passed the imperial examination and became a scholar that she went to Xu Laosi's house to borrow something and overheard the couple talking about it proudly.
Upon hearing the truth, Ma Dahua was so angry she almost vomited blood. She wanted to rush over and tear the two of them apart, but reason stopped her in the end.
At this point, Xu Cuilian angrily spat out a mouthful of saliva:
“Ma Dahua is a real scoundrel. She knew all about what Xu Laosi and his wife had done, but she just wanted to cling to Xu Huaining and didn’t tell anyone, not even Xu Laosan.”
This time, the actions of Xu Laosi's family completely broke Ma Dahua's heart, which is why she told the truth in public, hoping that the clan chief would stand up for her and punish Xu Laosi's family.
Sheng An had previously suspected that the whole thing was orchestrated by Xu Laosi's family, since they were the ultimate beneficiaries. Now that her suspicions had been confirmed, she was furious.
No, we can't let this matter go like this. Otherwise, what about the suffering Jin Nian endured in her childhood?
Seeing her niece-in-law's gloomy face, Xu Cuilian quickly comforted her, "Ma Dahua didn't get away with it. She was beaten badly by Xu Laosi and his wife, and she's still bedridden, unable to even get a hot meal..."
Xu Laosi and his wife dared not admit to their actions, fearing that this matter would affect Xu Huaining's future. They joined forces to beat Ma Dahua, accusing her of spreading rumors and slander that would ruin Xu Huaining's future.
Ma Dahua was no match for the attacker and was beaten and covered in bruises, but no one in the village sympathized with her.
These past few days, only her eldest daughter has come every few days to bring her some food so she won't starve.
When Ma Dahua's eldest daughter was mentioned, Xu Cuilian's expression also turned sour:
"She asked the clan chief about your house, but the clan chief just said he didn't know and told her to take good care of her mother and not to have any ulterior motives to bother you."
Even if Xu Jinnian had already been adopted out, just based on his current status as the top scholar in the imperial examination, the clan leader would stand on his side and not allow anyone to have the opportunity to disturb him.
Moreover, Xu Jinnian was preparing to go to the capital for the imperial examination, a matter of great importance concerning the prosperity of the entire Xu clan. The clan leader would never allow Ma Dahua and her daughter to come looking for him.
Sheng An silently accepted the clan leader's kindness, but his expression turned sour.
"The Xu family is full of schemes. Xu Huaining knows the location of Shengyuan. He will definitely tell the mother and daughter, and they will probably come looking for us in the next couple of days."
Xu Cuilian's expression changed: "We can't let them find us. I'm going back to the village right now to find the clan chief and have him send people to keep an eye on them!"
Sheng An stopped her: "There's no need to trouble your aunt. Even if they come looking for us, they won't be able to get through the gates of Sheng Garden."
Ma Dahua and her daughter were determined to come, and the clan chief couldn't stop them at all.
She also felt that Ma Dahua's punishment was not enough, so she took this opportunity to return the favor with interest, so that they would never dare to mess with Xu Jinnian again.
Seeing that Sheng An had a plan, Xu Cuilian nodded: "Okay, just let me know if you can't solve it."
On the way back, Sheng An told Xu Jinnian what had happened in Xujiaba so that he could be mentally prepared.
Xu Jinnian remained calm: "I'll handle it."
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